Went to it today, and managed to spend 6 hours going round all the
stalls, so my legs ache a bit!
Anyone else been yet? Must say I was quite impressed with the layouts on
show, as usual, though the show had one of the rear halls, so it took a
bit of walking from the main entrance. There was of course a sizeable
trade presence too.
Mind you my wallets also hurting a tad as well. Bought a Bachmann 37, a
couple of wagons and a Hornby Black 5.
Speaking of the 5, after I took it out the box when I got home, it seems
to be remarkably light (compared to Bachmann locos at least), anyone
else noticed this? I'll give it a good run in tomorrow, though I suspect
I may have to add a bit of weight to it, but I'll see how it goes.
I also had my first chance to inspect the Hornby Live Steam A4, and I
must say I was very impressed, it seems to have a good turn of speed and
haulage capability, sounds, and indeed smells right, it just misses the
sulphur smell from the coal! Though it seems to take a lot of practice,
control wise, I had a go and it was a right b*gg*r, at least at first
attempt. But the Hornby staff managed it ok, so I suppose its just a
question of practice, even compelled me to buy one, but not yet......
I can't help noticing that Bachmann is making more and more use of
die-casting to increase the weight of their locomotives. With any luck
they'll go the whole hog one day and produce a die-cast body as well.
(kim)
In message , kim
writes
If I remember correctly, die-cast items tend to deteriorate over the
years, breaking and degenerating into a kind of powder at the break
lines, like a kind of metal fatigue.
"John Sullivan" wrote
A symptom of using impure materials. Mazak needs its tin content to be
99.9% pure or it does indeed degrade, but many pre-WW2 diecast items have
survived unscathed where impurities in the metal mix have been avoided.
John.
In message , John Sullivan
writes
Good grief! That hasn't been a problem since pre-war days! Called
various names both here and USA, and caused by impurities in the metal.
Said to have been cured during WWII, when higher quality castings were
required for 'the war effort'.
I still have the following Hornby-Dublo diecast locomotives - one DUCHESS OF
MONTROSE (converted to 2-rail), two 8F 2-8-0s and a BR 2-6-4T; no sign of
metal fatigue on any of them.
I was surprised to find that one of my EFE trucks (Atkinson artic, Tate
& Lyle) had suffered warpage and cracking of both parts of the diecast
chassis, from just sitting in a display case - nowhere near a window.
that one of my EFE trucks (Atkinson artic, >>>> Tate & Lyle) had suffered
warpage and cracking of both parts of the >>>> diecast chassis, from just
sitting in a display case - nowhere near >>>> a window. >>> >>> How old is
it? >> >> Under 10 years. Maybe it was a faulty batch of Mazak; a rear
mudguard >> also broke off while I was handling it. > >That's worrying. If
the problem is widespread it will affect the value of >all EFE models.
Mazak is, at best, horrible stuff. I've had cars where the brightwork
was laid on Mazak, and one or two where it was used for door or wing
mirror mountings. I eneded up buying a lot of replacement mirrors.
Then there's the pin-holing.
Foul stuff.
I have two of these live steam A4s. They have both been back for attention,
but they are brilliant when running properley, although there is a learning
curve to operate them. I have ordered a rolling road, not the current Hornby
one as they are releasing an improved version in the spring. This will
enable me to learn the characteristics of each loco without them flying off
the track.
Bob
I was up visiting family in Edinburgh that weekend so I popped over on the
Saturday. It was certainly very busy! A good, wide selection of layouts, and
a lot of traders - even my local shop (C&G Model Railways, Darlington) made
the long trip to Glasgow. I parted company with some cash for a Heljan 47
bodyshell (47212 in Railfreight Petroleum, a donor for a future repaint),
plus various transfers and detailing parts. On the transfers front I saw
something very interesting - the recently-unveiled First Rail development
Mk3s (pictures here:
formatting link
can be modelled
courtesy of Replica Railways! In the space of little over a week Replica
have managed to get the transfers on the market so I got myself a pair and a
Hornby FGW Mk3 to put them on and it looks pretty damn good, something
different for the layout. Slightly tricky to fit though, in that all the
windows have been cut-out in advance, but the droplights in the door
haven't, so make sure you've got a good sharp blade to cut them out with,
and to cut around the step board (is that the right name?) beneath each
door. All in all, a good event though it was pretty packed in the few hours
I was there.
practice,
The Hornby Grange and the Bachmann Hall were both on display. The
Grange looked excellent, but I felt that the Hall didn't look quite
right. I can't put my finger on it, but there seemed something rather
clumsy about it. What do others think?
Andy Kirkham
Glasgow
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